Open the Doors

So far I have been focusing on the benefits of authentic audiences for the student. A recent blog article by The Technorate Teacher opened by eyes to another set of benefits created by authentic audiences - benefits for me, the teacher.

By opening up my students' work to a greater audience, I am opening up my teaching practices, thoughts, ideas, and resources to a greater audience. Just as my students would not want to showcase a poor, hastily done project, I don't want to showcase poor teaching practices, hastily drawn-up lessons, and the such. By knowing that my students' work will be put out there, I will spend more time making sure my lessons high quality, effective learning experiences that are tied to standards and research.

While I would like dream that everyone would tell me I am a wonderful teacher, through this audience I can receive feedback that will help me better my practices. It is an evaluation that parents, peer teachers, colleagues, mentors, other educations, and even your students can participate in.

I love how on Twitter teachers are always tweeting about projects their students are completing and inviting fellow teachers to come share their thoughts. Some of the edublogs I learn the most from are those that blog about their experiences in the class - both the good and the bad - and ask for feedback and suggestions. These teachers are using web 2.0 resources to help improve themselves everyday - talk about continuous improvement and life long learning!